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PI OriginalAngela CaputoWednesday January 6th, 2010, 2:28pm

Number Of The Day: $750 Million

Yesterday, word quickly spread that some relief could be on the way
to cash-strapped universities, human service agencies, and other
Illinois vendors anxiously awaiting
a collective $5.1 billion in overdue state payments. Gov. Pat Quinn
confirmed that by week's end, ...

Yesterday, word quickly spread that some relief could be on the way
to cash-strapped universities, human service agencies, and other
Illinois vendors anxiously awaiting
a collective $5.1 billion in overdue state payments. Gov. Pat Quinn
confirmed that by week's end, the state plans to issue $3.47 billion in
general obligation bonds. Illinois will be reimbursed nearly $840 million as a result, of which $750 million would be sent along
to the Comptroller Dan Hynes' office to start whittling away at the
backlog. The bond deal isn't a surprise. Before leaving Springfield
last spring, lawmakers agreed to issue the notes, which will come due
in equal installments over each of the next five years. With so many
vendors in line, it remains to be seen how the money will be divvied
up, according to Hynes spokeswoman Carol Knowles, who spoke with
Inside Higher Ed. "When you have a backlog as phenomenally large as
Illinois has of more than $5 billion, it makes it very difficult to
address all the emergencies," she said. "And you have to weigh how bad
all the emergencies are.”

The real emergency is the inadequate revenue coming into the
state's coffers. That's a point Quinn made clear at a press conference
yesterday, where he reiterated the urgent need for an income tax
increase, coupled with "tax relief" for lower-income households. "We've
got to, sooner rather than later, come up with a fair plan to raise
enough revenue to pay our bills," Quinn said, "but also cut taxes on
people who need help the most." Watch:

Political science professor Dick Simpson from the University of Illinois at Chicago echoed that call earlier this week, saying during a Fox Chicago Sunday segment that failure to address the mounting debts this year "will hurt us for decades." Still, the tax increase proposal
with the most political support -- State Sen. James Meeks' HB 174,
which passed the Senate last May -- is stuck in the House. Meanwhile,
as the Tribnoted
yesterday, lawmakers "lack of will to make tough decisions" is pushing
the state's finances deeper into the abyss. And it's clearly having
long-term, financial consequences, according to Bond Buyer:

Rating agencies have taken the state to task for the [tax
increase] delay, citing it as a factor in negative rating actions
because it has exacerbated the government’s growing liquidity problem
and poor financial performance [...]

“The planned deferral of legislative action to address fiscal
2010 imbalances until at least February or March leaves little time in
the fiscal year to take actions to materially reverse the trend of
financial weakening,” [analyst Edward Hampton said].

Will 2010 be the year that lawmakers finally face up to reality? We'll see when the General Assembly returns to Springfield next week.